Albuquerque police have violently cracked down on protesters, using tear gas and arresting several demonstrators, after over nine hours of unrest. Hundreds expressed their anger over last week's police shooting that saw a homeless man killed.

Several people were dressed up for the rally, with their faces
painted and posters in their hands. They were shouting, “Hey
hey, ho ho, killer cops have got to go.”

Albuquerque mayor Richard Berry said the protest had descended
into “mayhem” and one police officer had been injured in clashes
with the protesters.

“We respected their rights to protest obviously,” Berry
said to the Albuquerque Journal, “but what it appears we have
at this time is individuals who weren’t connected necessarily
with the original protest … they’ve taken it far beyond a normal
protest.”

The protesters are angry at the Albuquerque police’s involvement
in 37 shootings, 23 of them fatal, over the past four years. Many
believe it is far too many for a city with around 550,000
inhabitants. The most recent case of a police shooting happened
on March 16 when a homeless man was shot dead on the east side of
Albuquerque. The incident was caught on video and the FBI has now
opened an investigation into the man’s death.